Co-worker K was complaining about the traffic and stated it took her 2 hours to get to work the other morning because there was so much traffic. I commiserated, but said that is why I like riding my bike.

Later today she was gone for a few hours. Comes back, said she and her husband were looking at houses.

K: We're going to be moving!Me: Congratulations! How much shorter will your commute be?K: Oh, it will be longer. We are moving to [names town 10 miles farther away than her current town]. It will probably add 40 min to my commute.Me and CW J: O.oJ: I couldn't stand to be in the car for an hour and a half a day (obviously referring to her entire round-trip commute of 40+40 min)K: Oh, no, it will be more like 3 hours. It already takes me over an hour on a good day.Me: OMG!J: [sound of disbelief]K: Oh, it's not that bad. I have a hybrid

Co-worker K was complaining about the traffic and stated it took her 2 hours to get to work the other morning because there was so much traffic. I commiserated, but said that is why I like riding my bike.

Later today she was gone for a few hours. Comes back, said she and her husband were looking at houses.

K: We're going to be moving!Me: Congratulations! How much shorter will your commute be?K: Oh, it will be longer. We are moving to [names town 10 miles farther away than her current town]. It will probably add 40 min to my commute.Me and CW J: O.oJ: I couldn't stand to be in the car for an hour and a half a day (obviously referring to her entire round-trip commute of 40+40 min)K: Oh, no, it will be more like 3 hours. It already takes me over an hour on a good day.Me: OMG!J: [sound of disbelief]K: Oh, it's not that bad. I have a hybrid

Co-worker K was complaining about the traffic and stated it took her 2 hours to get to work the other morning because there was so much traffic. I commiserated, but said that is why I like riding my bike.

Later today she was gone for a few hours. Comes back, said she and her husband were looking at houses.

K: We're going to be moving!Me: Congratulations! How much shorter will your commute be?K: Oh, it will be longer. We are moving to [names town 10 miles farther away than her current town]. It will probably add 40 min to my commute.Me and CW J: O.oJ: I couldn't stand to be in the car for an hour and a half a day (obviously referring to her entire round-trip commute of 40+40 min)K: Oh, no, it will be more like 3 hours. It already takes me over an hour on a good day.Me: OMG!J: [sound of disbelief]K: Oh, it's not that bad. I have a hybrid

Co-worker K was complaining about the traffic and stated it took her 2 hours to get to work the other morning because there was so much traffic. I commiserated, but said that is why I like riding my bike.

Later today she was gone for a few hours. Comes back, said she and her husband were looking at houses.

K: We're going to be moving!Me: Congratulations! How much shorter will your commute be?K: Oh, it will be longer. We are moving to [names town 10 miles farther away than her current town]. It will probably add 40 min to my commute.Me and CW J: O.oJ: I couldn't stand to be in the car for an hour and a half a day (obviously referring to her entire round-trip commute of 40+40 min)K: Oh, no, it will be more like 3 hours. It already takes me over an hour on a good day.Me: OMG!J: [sound of disbelief]K: Oh, it's not that bad. I have a hybrid

This is hard to even believe. The longer she talks the worse it gets!

I hear this from Silicon Valley workers all the time. They want to "buy the dream" of a huge house, and are willing to sell their lives (and pocketbooks) on a huge commute from a place where such a house is actually purchasable. It's nonsensical.

Here's another one from my workplace. A couple years ago we hired a young 20s IT guy. He bought a new Ford SUV when he started (or just before). A year later he traded it in for a NEW F150 with all the bells and whistles. At the time he said something about how he can make dumb financial decisions now when he's young.

In the last month he traded that in and got a late model BMW (I don't think it's "new", but within the last 3 years). Today a few of us went out to lunch for a co-worker's birthday. He wanted to drive, naturally, and sent directions from his phone to his navigation system in the car. Another co-worker and I rode together and although we were passed by the other cars, we still arrived first. The BMW owner mumbled something about how he needs to get the maps updated or something when he finally arrived 5-10 minutes later.

Co-worker K was complaining about the traffic and stated it took her 2 hours to get to work the other morning because there was so much traffic. I commiserated, but said that is why I like riding my bike.

Later today she was gone for a few hours. Comes back, said she and her husband were looking at houses.

K: We're going to be moving!Me: Congratulations! How much shorter will your commute be?K: Oh, it will be longer. We are moving to [names town 10 miles farther away than her current town]. It will probably add 40 min to my commute.Me and CW J: O.oJ: I couldn't stand to be in the car for an hour and a half a day (obviously referring to her entire round-trip commute of 40+40 min)K: Oh, no, it will be more like 3 hours. It already takes me over an hour on a good day.Me: OMG!J: [sound of disbelief]K: Oh, it's not that bad. I have a hybrid

This is hard to even believe. The longer she talks the worse it gets!

I hear this from Silicon Valley workers all the time. They want to "buy the dream" of a huge house, and are willing to sell their lives (and pocketbooks) on a huge commute from a place where such a house is actually purchasable. It's nonsensical.

I can emotionally get this. I used to live in a very high COL area. Houses were very close to unaffordable there for us, even though we had high salaries. I was in my late 20s, and renting, and looking at friends and family and people on tv in their homes, and it was hard not to feel like I wasn't a real adult until we owned. Plus, I really like home projects and decorating, and stability (esp with kids), and felt like I needed to own (and own a bigger home with many different rooms for different activities). And anything affordable close to work would have been a dump, and probably what I would have felt like was too small, and it *still* would have a huge mortgage, which would have gnawed at me.

Luckily, we knew we wanted to move to a lower COL area, so we were able to resist buying (good thing too, would have had to sell right when the market was crashing). And then we did move to our lower COL and I was in heaven looking at largish (2000 sq ft), with land, in good conditions at affordable prices. And we bought right away and worked on making things perfect.

And, only after owning what I had long dreamed of, do I see how it's really not that great or important. We don't need that much room, and I'm not more of an adult, and diy stuff and yard work is a PITA. So, we'll probably be down-sizing, and I might even consider a condo.....

...but, if we were still living in our old area, I probably would have broken down and gotten a house that was not a dump, that was not tiny, and had a long commute to do it. And even if I realized later that it was a bad idea, without MMM I don't know if I would have had enough courage to sell it and down-size. Who wants to give up the big sign that they have made it after all ;)

Co-worker K was complaining about the traffic and stated it took her 2 hours to get to work the other morning because there was so much traffic. I commiserated, but said that is why I like riding my bike.

Later today she was gone for a few hours. Comes back, said she and her husband were looking at houses.

K: We're going to be moving!Me: Congratulations! How much shorter will your commute be?K: Oh, it will be longer. We are moving to [names town 10 miles farther away than her current town]. It will probably add 40 min to my commute.Me and CW J: O.oJ: I couldn't stand to be in the car for an hour and a half a day (obviously referring to her entire round-trip commute of 40+40 min)K: Oh, no, it will be more like 3 hours. It already takes me over an hour on a good day.Me: OMG!J: [sound of disbelief]K: Oh, it's not that bad. I have a hybrid

This is hard to even believe. The longer she talks the worse it gets!

I hear this from Silicon Valley workers all the time. They want to "buy the dream" of a huge house, and are willing to sell their lives (and pocketbooks) on a huge commute from a place where such a house is actually purchasable. It's nonsensical.

Yep, that is what they are doing - moving even farther from Seattle to get a bigger house. She was going on about how the house was 600 sq feet bigger. I asked her why she needed the extra space, since their only child JUST moved out of the house (like last week, we gossip alot...) She couldn't really answer it, and evaded by talking about how much nicer the nice is and how the payment will be so much less than current house. *facepalm*

Co-worker K was complaining about the traffic and stated it took her 2 hours to get to work the other morning because there was so much traffic. I commiserated, but said that is why I like riding my bike.

Later today she was gone for a few hours. Comes back, said she and her husband were looking at houses.

K: We're going to be moving!Me: Congratulations! How much shorter will your commute be?K: Oh, it will be longer. We are moving to [names town 10 miles farther away than her current town]. It will probably add 40 min to my commute.Me and CW J: O.oJ: I couldn't stand to be in the car for an hour and a half a day (obviously referring to her entire round-trip commute of 40+40 min)K: Oh, no, it will be more like 3 hours. It already takes me over an hour on a good day.Me: OMG!J: [sound of disbelief]K: Oh, it's not that bad. I have a hybrid

Co-worker K was complaining about the traffic and stated it took her 2 hours to get to work the other morning because there was so much traffic. I commiserated, but said that is why I like riding my bike.

Later today she was gone for a few hours. Comes back, said she and her husband were looking at houses.

K: We're going to be moving!Me: Congratulations! How much shorter will your commute be?K: Oh, it will be longer. We are moving to [names town 10 miles farther away than her current town]. It will probably add 40 min to my commute.Me and CW J: O.oJ: I couldn't stand to be in the car for an hour and a half a day (obviously referring to her entire round-trip commute of 40+40 min)K: Oh, no, it will be more like 3 hours. It already takes me over an hour on a good day.Me: OMG!J: [sound of disbelief]K: Oh, it's not that bad. I have a hybrid

What a fucking moron.

Well she makes a good point... she does own a hybrid. ;)

My commute is 45 to an hour each way now but it's only for 7 weeks. My last job was a quick 20-30 minute. It's impossible to be where I can bike to work as my work location changes every two months - but at least I live a quick 20 minute drive from where most of my jobs are. Especially when I can use the carpool lane since I have an Nissan Leaf.

At the time he said something about how he can make dumb financial decisions now when he's .

I have heard this sentiment a lot lately. Two of my sins graduated from college this year and repeatedly I heard their friends or friends parents explaining taking a huge overseas vacation or buying a high end car by saying " you gotta do these things while your young". Really? While nt even having started to pay off those student loans you go to Europe for a month or buy the BMW because you have to do those things while young?

Dear Dr. Don,Where can I get a car loan for a new vehicle while in bankruptcy? My trustee has advised me to look for a vehicle and I have done that. But the dealers won't work with lenders in my case and they all want a cashier's check or cash. So do you have a name of a lender that would be willing to finance me?

The columnist gently pointed out that a new car is a bad idea when you're in bankruptcy...

Logged

Author of "The Military Guide to Financial Independence and Retirement". All royalties (and writing revenue) donated to military charities.I don't read every post, so please PM or e-mail me to get my attention...

Co-worker K was complaining about the traffic and stated it took her 2 hours to get to work the other morning because there was so much traffic. I commiserated, but said that is why I like riding my bike.

Later today she was gone for a few hours. Comes back, said she and her husband were looking at houses.

K: We're going to be moving!Me: Congratulations! How much shorter will your commute be?K: Oh, it will be longer. We are moving to [names town 10 miles farther away than her current town]. It will probably add 40 min to my commute.Me and CW J: O.oJ: I couldn't stand to be in the car for an hour and a half a day (obviously referring to her entire round-trip commute of 40+40 min)K: Oh, no, it will be more like 3 hours. It already takes me over an hour on a good day.Me: OMG!J: [sound of disbelief]K: Oh, it's not that bad. I have a hybrid

This is hard to even believe. The longer she talks the worse it gets!

I hear this from Silicon Valley workers all the time. They want to "buy the dream" of a huge house, and are willing to sell their lives (and pocketbooks) on a huge commute from a place where such a house is actually purchasable. It's nonsensical.

Yep, I have co-workers who live in Tracy and commute to Redwood City. 75 miles and 2.5 hours or longer each way! I work from home. My commute is 15 feet in slippers.

Co-worker K was complaining about the traffic and stated it took her 2 hours to get to work the other morning because there was so much traffic. I commiserated, but said that is why I like riding my bike.

Later today she was gone for a few hours. Comes back, said she and her husband were looking at houses.

K: We're going to be moving!Me: Congratulations! How much shorter will your commute be?K: Oh, it will be longer. We are moving to [names town 10 miles farther away than her current town]. It will probably add 40 min to my commute.Me and CW J: O.oJ: I couldn't stand to be in the car for an hour and a half a day (obviously referring to her entire round-trip commute of 40+40 min)K: Oh, no, it will be more like 3 hours. It already takes me over an hour on a good day.Me: OMG!J: [sound of disbelief]K: Oh, it's not that bad. I have a hybrid

This is hard to even believe. The longer she talks the worse it gets!

I hear this from Silicon Valley workers all the time. They want to "buy the dream" of a huge house, and are willing to sell their lives (and pocketbooks) on a huge commute from a place where such a house is actually purchasable. It's nonsensical.

Yep, I have co-workers who live in Tracy and commute to Redwood City. 75 miles and 2.5 hours or longer each way! I work from home. My commute is 15 feet in slippers.

Co-worker K was complaining about the traffic and stated it took her 2 hours to get to work the other morning because there was so much traffic. I commiserated, but said that is why I like riding my bike.

Later today she was gone for a few hours. Comes back, said she and her husband were looking at houses.

K: We're going to be moving!Me: Congratulations! How much shorter will your commute be?K: Oh, it will be longer. We are moving to [names town 10 miles farther away than her current town]. It will probably add 40 min to my commute.Me and CW J: O.oJ: I couldn't stand to be in the car for an hour and a half a day (obviously referring to her entire round-trip commute of 40+40 min)K: Oh, no, it will be more like 3 hours. It already takes me over an hour on a good day.Me: OMG!J: [sound of disbelief]K: Oh, it's not that bad. I have a hybrid

This is hard to even believe. The longer she talks the worse it gets!

I hear this from Silicon Valley workers all the time. They want to "buy the dream" of a huge house, and are willing to sell their lives (and pocketbooks) on a huge commute from a place where such a house is actually purchasable. It's nonsensical.

Yep, I have co-workers who live in Tracy and commute to Redwood City. 75 miles and 2.5 hours or longer each way! I work from home. My commute is 15 feet in slippers.

Wait, so they have the option to work from home and choose not to?

It depends on the role and your attitude. We have a pretty flexible workplace and a highly distributed workforce. If you want to be noticed and advance your career it is better to work in the office. Some managers can get pretty insistent and some jobs cannot be done from home. I had one manager who quit because she wanted everyone on her team to work in the same office.

I have been told several times that it would be better for my career to move back to California. No way! My mental and emotional happiness is much more important to me than being a rat in a maze just to make more money.

"Guess who just ordered a new iPhone 6?" followed by cheers from coworkers. This is the one who bought a house for 5% down, is paying PMI, but is *positive* the real estate market will go up, so PMI isn't a big dea

Relatively frugal co-worker has a friend who is "definitely" buying an Apple Watch. Apparently he wants it for "exercise". It doesn't make sense to either of us. $350 for a first generation device that will most likely do less than one of the countless other wearable exercise devices out there? But it's an Apple device...

I live in a different town. Not mustachian but unbelievable not at all. I basically have a vacation home on a lake as my primary residence. Its 15 miles from where I work. I have a wakeboarding hobby and made it as affordable as possible. Used boats under valued cheapest lake to live on in my area. I probably spend less wakeboarding than most do golfing.

But back to point living hours away to me seems insane. But in a different city. Not a big deal.

CW. We are moving to [names town 10 miles farther away than her current town].

I can't believe people live in a different TOWN to which they work!!

Depends a bit on the town. There are some areas where it's hard to tell where one begins and the other ends. For example, you could live in Beaverton and work in Portland (Oregon) and your commute could easily be under 10 miles (20-25 minutes).

This is true! My commute by bike is 5.8 miles, and goes out of my town, through another, and then back into my town.. if I take the car (6 miles) it passes through two different other towns before coming back to the town I live in.

I suspect that towns near large US cities are smaller and more oddly shaped than most Australian towns.

CW. We are moving to [names town 10 miles farther away than her current town].

I can't believe people live in a different TOWN to which they work!!

I am one of the very few in my office that actually lives in the city of Richmond. Most live in the two suburban counties that wrap around the city, but there are some who choose to live over an hour away one way so they can have "country homes." Oy.

"Guess who just ordered a new iPhone 6?" followed by cheers from coworkers. This is the one who bought a house for 5% down, is paying PMI, but is *positive* the real estate market will go up, so PMI isn't a big dea

Jeez. I hate the fact that we're paying PMI but we are paying about an extra $500-1000 per month to get out of the range. I also want to pay off the mortgage in under 10 years, so the PMI really isn't that big of a deal. And I don't have an iPhone 6... So thanks for making me feel better!

CW. We are moving to [names town 10 miles farther away than her current town].

I can't believe people live in a different TOWN to which they work!!

I don't think this is all that unbelievable, particularly in large sprawling suburban areas where towns just meld together. My commute (when I do go into the office, which is rare) is only a few miles. So is my husband's. There are actually a lot of valid circumstances where it might not be the best choice to live closer to work, such as a household with two working spouses who travel in different directions. I do think what the OP's coworker said is crazy though.

I have a coworker who wants to own a shop and be a racing mechanic someday (he has worked on traveling race teams). I am in management on our farm and know how much he makes, and it's fairly typical for a guy a few years out of high school with no further certificates working full time for those years. So basically, not much. He always talks about how he's going to have a shop, but at other times says that he has an extra $xxx in his bank account, so he's started looking at four wheelers. And gets breakfast at Sheetz every morning, then goes for fast food for lunch several times a week. I mentioned that it would be cheaper to eat at home and then he could save for that shop. He informed me he's on his way b/c he used a 50% off coupon for some tools brand that's really good, so he "bought $12,000 worth of tools for only $6,000!" I was surprised that he had managed to save money, but then: "And the payments will be pretty easy to make!" I didn't ask further, but I'm betting by the time he's done paying for them he'll pay close to $12,000. Oh my.

Also, I technically live in a different town (zip code) than where I commute to work, and it's a 2 minute drive in my company-bought work truck. In fact, I live on the farm, but that side of it sits in a different "town". I'm just glad we don't cross county lines like our neighbor does. That would be a headache.

This is true! My commute by bike is 5.8 miles, and goes out of my town, through another, and then back into my town.. if I take the car (6 miles) it passes through two different other towns before coming back to the town I live in.

I suspect that towns near large US cities are smaller and more oddly shaped than most Australian towns.

I have a co-worker that just had his first child. He had an extended cab Tacoma. One day he mentioned that the Tacoma was not cutting with the baby and needed supplies it so he was thinking about a Suburban. He then asked me if I knew what type of milage they got. I said "about 15". He replied with "Cool, I thought they only got 10 or so". The next week, he shows up with a Tahoe, I guess the Suburban was just a little too much for him;) Later on, I asked how long his commute was (probably 20-25 miles one way). He replied that he didn't know.

Another former coworker bought a 4-runner. I asked him what type of milage it got. He said he didn't know and it didn't matter, because that's what he wanted.

CW. We are moving to [names town 10 miles farther away than her current town].

I can't believe people live in a different TOWN to which they work!!

I used to walk to high school in a different town. It took 10 minutes or less. The other town was right across the street, because I grew up in suburbia(s). (I realize this is the nth story of this variety...)

^Basically she's just saying she lives paycheck to paycheck. Otherwise one might not notice right away.

I would notice, of course, because I religiously track the ticking up of my retirement accounts via the monthly contributions. It's that money not showing up in Vanguard that would catch my attention first.

I have a Canadian friend who asked me "What happens when you cross the border into another state in your car?" I guess Canadian provinces are so big that many people just fly from one city to another. I answered in confusion, "Ummm, there's a little sign on the side of the road?" I grew up so close to the NY state border that my parents would cross the state line at least once a week in the course of running errands.

To put the Canadian thing into context, if you are in Toronto, it is closer to drive to Florida than certain other parts of Ontario.

I have traveled from michigan to florida, michigan to wyoming, and michigan to maine and back and never encountered anything other than a sign at any borders. Never been to california or the south west.

CW. We are moving to [names town 10 miles farther away than her current town].

I can't believe people live in a different TOWN to which they work!!

I lived in a different STATE than the one I worked in. Crossed several city limits and a state line on my 14 mile, 30 minute commute.

Easterners! Out in the west that would be much harder...

I was stationed in Georgia for training years back and we just came back from a 4-day weekend. Someone commented how they drove north for 10 hours and crossed 6 states (like it was a huge deal). I did the math and replied "Starting from the same latitude in California, I'd still be in California." I liked to give them a lot of crap about being from a much bigger state. I live in WA now and regularly drive 12 hours south to visit home on long weekends and vacations.

There are agriculture checkpoints just inside the CA border coming from Oregon, Nevada, and the Mexico border. There might be one between AZ and CA. I haven't driven that route in years.

In the Detroit area it's not uncommon for people to live in a different city, state and COUNTRY. How people are willing to deal with an international border crossing everyday is beyond me.

Depends what kind of border you are crossing. I know one guy who is crossing an international border 8 times (three countries) a day just to commute to work (ca 40 min total). Of course there is no real border where someone cares about your documents.

In the Detroit area it's not uncommon for people to live in a different city, state and COUNTRY. How people are willing to deal with an international border crossing everyday is beyond me.

Depends what kind of border you are crossing. I know one guy who is crossing an international border 8 times (three countries) a day just to commute to work (ca 40 min total). Of course there is no real border where someone cares about your documents.

In Europe we did a road trip and hit 5 countries in one day with a long lunch stop. Barely had a sign at a few of the crossings, could see people easily going back and forth daily.

In Europe we did a road trip and hit 5 countries in one day with a long lunch stop. Barely had a sign at a few of the crossings, could see people easily going back and forth daily.

I often cycle to Germany. Sometimes for exercise, sometimes for shopping (much cheaper). Takes about 20 min from my place.

To hit 5 countries you have to plan well. Something like France, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg and Germany would be possible. To go from one corner of EU to the other takes about as long as from NYC to LA.

A week or so ago few of us including myself were"promoted" to the next work level. Nothing consequential except a slight salary increase (ca +300$ net per month). I was laughing with one of the others affected about it and he said yeah it's peanuts but still half a payment for the new car he bought few weeks earlier. Many of my co-workers are spending 500-600 $/month in gas alone. To be honest they don't have a good alternative, but still…

In the Detroit area it's not uncommon for people to live in a different city, state and COUNTRY. How people are willing to deal with an international border crossing everyday is beyond me.

They have special fast-pass lanes for people who make the border crossing very often. It turns a delay into a slight annoyance.

With some planning, you could drive from Denmark through Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Lichtenstein, Austria, Italy, and Slovenia in one day. That makes 11. I don't know European geography that well so I assume you could do quite a bit more than 11 in a single day.

With some planning, you could drive from Denmark through Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Lichtenstein, Austria, Italy, and Slovenia in one day. That makes 11. I don't know European geography that well so I assume you could do quite a bit more than 11 in a single day.

Just for fun I put that route in Google maps. Starting in Padborg, Denmark (border town with Germany) you could do all that and end up in Croatia in about 22 h. If you push it maybe you can get into Bosnia as well before your allotted 24 h are over. I bet someone has chased a Guinness record of that sort.

Of course calculating like this you can drive from Vancouver to Tijuana in one day as well.

With some planning, you could drive from Denmark through Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Lichtenstein, Austria, Italy, and Slovenia in one day. That makes 11. I don't know European geography that well so I assume you could do quite a bit more than 11 in a single day.

Just for fun I put that route in Google maps. Starting in Padborg, Denmark (border town with Germany) you could do all that and end up in Croatia in about 22 h. If you push it maybe you can get into Bosnia as well before your allotted 24 h are over. I bet someone has chased a Guinness record of that sort.

Of course calculating like this you can drive from Vancouver to Tijuana in one day as well.

With a quick search I found http://www.18in24.co.uk/, which mentions that 17 countries in 24 hours is the current record (yes, in Europe). Not sure if they made 18...